Pakistan to ban 12 terror outfits

Islamabad: Considering the security situation in the country after nearly 150 people were killed in the Peshawar school blast, Pakistan is planning to ban 12 terror outfits. According to Pakistani media, Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) which is led by 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed and the dreaded Afghan-based Haqqani Network are among the 12 terror outfits likely to be banned. Banning an organisation means freezing its assets, blocking funding sources and monitoring them properly.

The decision is being seen as a ‘paradigm shift’ in the country’s security policy. A formal announcement to this effect would be made in ‘coming days’, Pakistani media reported.

The decision came a day after the US declared the fugitive chief of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Mullah Fazlullah as a ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorist’ following Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Pakistan this week.